By Dennis Clark
TERRE HAUTE — Despite both boys high school basketball teams playing their fourth games in as many days, neither Owen Valley or Marshall appeared the least bit tired from the frenetic pace of their game … literally from wire-to-wire.
After a nearly evenly played first half, Owen Valley’s shooting touch warmed up in the second half while Marshall’s slipped badly. As a result, Owen Valley prevailed 67-58 over Marshall in the fifth-place game of the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in South’s gym on Saturday.
The two teams battled through nine lead changes and five ties in the first half, finishing in a 34-34 deadlock at intermission. The stats bore out how close the first half was, Marshall outshooting the Patriots 30-28 from the field, with both teams scoring 13 field goals.
It was different story in the second half, as Owen Valley (9-1) shot at a 62 percent clip, Marshall (7-5) limping down the stretch at a 29 percent clip. For the game, OV outshot the Lions 53-36 percent.
“It was [a fast-paced game],” admitted Owen Valley coach Trent Heckman. “[Marshall] really wants to get out and go. I thought that we did, but they want to more than we do. Those two Eitel guys [sophomore twins Logan and Lucas] are good players, really athletic.
“Very, very physical game too at that speed,” Heckman continued. “I’m glad to get out of here with the fifth-place spot in the tournament. It was a struggle today, a very physical battle. Our legs are still tired from the first day.”
Marshall led 16-10 in the first quarter, but Owen Valley roared back with 10 unanswered points to go up 28-23 late in the second quarter. After being tied at halftime, Owen Valley shot out to a 51-44 lead in the third period, but Austin Byrd — on his only basket of the night — tied the game at 51-51 with 6:50 remaining.
Owen Valley’s Jared Maners — a rare non-start due to illness — scored on a drive 30 seconds later and the Patriots never trailed again. OV finished the contest on a 16-7 run.
“It was a fun game to coach,” stated Marshall coach Tom Brannan. “Both teams are quality teams, Owen Valley is 9-1. They had some really good guards that really get after it … on both ends they attack you.
“I thought we did a pretty good job … until maybe down there at the end where we were having to scramble a little bit down four, six points. They got some easy buckets on us which we wished we hadn’t gave up. That’s kind of the key there.”
Owen Valley was led by diminutive guard Antonio Marshall with 18 points, while Maners and Andrew Mullins added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The “two Eitel guys” referred to by Heckman combined to score 37 points, pull down 18 rebounds, had four steals and a blocked shot. Logan recorded a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Lucas had a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Travis Johnson helped out with nine points and seven boards.
Maners — who passed the 1,000-point plateau in his career earlier in the tournament — made his initial appearance in the second quarter. After scoring just two points in the first half — both on free throws — he tallied 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
Six of Maners’ points helped lift OV out of the 51-51 tie into a 59-51 lead in the fourth quarter. Despite being listed as just 6-foot — that’s probably a stretch — he also led the Patriots with nine boards.
“Jared was not feeling well to start the day,” Heckman said. “We thought he got better and we got him in there when he got feeling better. He’s a good player … it’s tough to go without him. We were glad he was able to go.”
Marshall 58
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Lo.Eitel 7-13 1-2 2-5 13 2 3 17
Johnson 4-9 1-3 0-2 7 1 1 9
Bullock 2-8 1-6 0-0 1 0 0 5
Boyer 0-6 0-2 2-2 2 0 5 2
Lu.Eitel 7-20 4-11 2-2 4 2 3 20
Byrd 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 3 2
Brashear 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0
Burnam 1-3 1-1 0-0 2 0 0 3
Ooka 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 22-61 8-25 6-11 35* 5 17 58
Owen Valley
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Madorin 4-8 0-0 1-2 5 0 2 9
Figg 0-5 0-1 2-3 2 1 2 6
Mullins 5-6 0-0 1-2 7 0 2 11
Temples 4-7 0-2 0-0 2 0 3 8
Marshall 6-11 2-6 4-6 4 2 2 18
Maners 4-11 0-2 4-7 9 0 1 12
Cochran 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 1 0 3
Matthews 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 26-49 3-12 12-20 34* 4 13 67
Marshall 18 16 13 11 — 58
Owen Valley 15 19 17 16 — 67
FG Pct. — M .361, OV .531. 3-pt FG Pct. — M .320, OV .250. FT Pct. — M .545, OV .600. (*) Includes team rebounds — M 3, OV 2. Turnovers — M 14, OV 12. Blocks — M 2 (Johnson, Lu.Eitel), OV 3 (Madorin, Mullins, Marshall).
Next games — Marshall (7-5) travels to Paris on Tuesday. Owen Valley (9-1) plays host to Northview on Jan. 5.
